United States v. Christie, No. 13-245-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 15, 2013) (Lynch, Chin, and Droney), available here Defendant moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), based on the 2011 Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines lowering the penalties for crack cocaine offenses. Both the Probation Office and the government agreed that the defendant was eligible … Read more

United States v. Kuruzovich, No. 12-1789-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2013) (Hall, Droney, and Restani) (summary order), available here The defendant was sentenced to one year of imprisonment and about $59,000 in restitution. [Disclosure: the Federal Defenders of New York represented the defendant for a time in the district court.] While his appeal was pending, but … Read more

United States v. Purnell, No. 12-4167-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2013) (Walker, Cabranes, and Lohier) (summary order), available here This summary order holds that the district court properly exercised its discretion to halt jury deliberations and investigate potential juror misconduct. During deliberations, the jury sent two notes stating that it was deadlocked. Both times, the district … Read more

United States v. Simmons, No. 12-2187-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 13, 2013) (Katzmann, Leval, and Pooler) (summary order), available here Convicted of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, the defendant was sentenced to 41 months of imprisonment, $1.3 million in forfeiture, and $1.3 million in restitution to Siren Management Company and Community Preservation Corporation (“CPC”). On … Read more

United States v. Heatley (Jackson), No. 12-2812 (2d Cir. Nov. 13, 2013) (Newman, Hall, and Lynch) (summary order), available here In this summary order, the Circuit agreed with the district court that the defendant was not eligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) and Amendment 599 to the Sentencing Guidelines. Amendment 599 provides that … Read more

United States v. LaDeau, No. 12-6611 (6th Cir. Nov. 4, 2013) (Rogers, Griffin, and Donald), available here  In this noteworthy ruling, the Sixth Circuit upheld a district court’s decision to dismiss an indictment in a child pornography downloading case based on prosecutorial vindictiveness.   The defendant was originally charged with one count of possessing child … Read more

United States v. Lopez, No. 12-1019-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 12, 2013) (Livingston, Lynch, and Droney) (summary order), available here  Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(b)(2)(C) permits a district judge to enter a general forfeiture order if “before sentencing, the court cannot . . . calculate the total amount of the money judgment.” The rule directs … Read more

United States v. Reed, No. 11-4820-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 12, 2013) (Winter, Pooler, and Chin) (summary order), available here This summary order holds that the district court’s factual findings were not adequate to support a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2G2.2(b)(3)(F) for distributing child pornography. Reed was convicted of one count of receiving child pornography and one … Read more

United States v. Murdock, No. 13-3236 (2d Cir. Nov. 8, 2013) (Katzmann, Kearse, and Wesley), available here This decision concerns a district court’s authority to modify a defendant’s conditions of supervised release to require that supervised release be served in another district. In 2012, Murdock was convicted in the District of Vermont of interstate transportation … Read more

United States v. Freeman, No. 12-2233 (2d Cir. Nov. 7, 2013) (Pooler, Wesley, and Droney) (as amended), available here In this important Fourth Amendment decision — required reading for anyone dealing with a search or seizure based on an anonymous tip — the Court held that the police, acting primarily on a pair of anonymous 911 … Read more